Tornadoes · United States · Kansas

1982 tornadoes in Kansas

58 tornadoes touched down in Kansas in 1982, about the average of the record for the state. They killed 4 people and injured 21.

1981 1983 The whole country in 1982

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

F040 to 72 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
F2113 to 157 mph
Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.
F3158 to 206 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
F5261 to 318 mph
Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.
Unrated
The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Every tornado in Kansas in 1982

March 15 9 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 15	4:49 PM CST	F2	Greenwood	1.0	300			$500,000 to $5 million
March 15	5:00 PM CST	F2	Woodson	30.0	500			$500,000 to $5 million
March 15	6:15 PM CST	F3	Montgomery	6.0	300	1	1	$500,000 to $5 million
March 15	6:40 PM CST	F1	Montgomery	0.1	10			$5,000 to $50,000
March 15	7:10 PM CST	F2	Crawford	17.0	600		3	$500,000 to $5 million
March 15	7:35 PM CST	F3	Crawford to MO	70.0	600	2	8	$5 million to $50 million
March 15	7:40 PM CST	F3	Labette	30.0	167	1	6	$500,000 to $5 million
March 15	8:17 PM CST	F0	Cherokee	0.1	10
March 15	8:45 PM CST	F3	Crawford to MO	9.0	400			$50,000 to $500,000

March 18 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 18	7:26 PM CST	F2	Seward	0.5	30			$5,000 to $50,000
March 18	11:30 PM CST	F2	Haskell	48.0	67			$50,000 to $500,000

April 2 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 2	2:50 PM CST	F1	Cherokee	0.2	17			$5,000 to $50,000

April 14 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 14	8:05 PM CST	F0	Ellis	0.2	10
April 14	10:09 PM CST	F1	Mitchell	0.2	17			$5,000 to $50,000

April 15 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 15	1:30 AM CST	F0	Osborne	3.0	17			$500 to $5,000

May 5 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 5	4:30 PM CDT	F0	Coffey	0.1	10			$500 to $5,000
May 5	5:00 PM CDT	F0	Coffey	0.1	10			$5,000 to $50,000

May 10 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 10	7:00 PM CDT	F0	Smith	0.1	10			$5,000 to $50,000

May 11 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 11	4:55 PM CDT	F1	Smith	4.0	400			$50,000 to $500,000

May 14 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 14	1:30 PM CDT	F0	Sedgwick	0.1	10			$50,000 to $500,000

May 15 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 15	8:45 PM CDT	F0	Seward	0.1	10	under $50
May 15	11:25 PM CDT	F0	Johnson	0.1	10	under $50
May 15	11:28 PM CDT	F0	Miami	0.1	10	under $50
May 15	12:06 AM CDT	F0	Miami	0.1	10	under $50

May 18 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 18	1:00 PM CDT	F0	Wabaunsee	0.1	10			under $50
May 18	10:00 PM CDT	F0	Meade	4.0	10			under $50

May 19 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 19	5:52 PM MDT	F0	Sherman	0.1	10	under $50
May 19	7:30 PM MDT	F3	Sherman	2.0	400	$500,000 to $5 million
May 19	9:20 PM CDT	F0	Thomas	0.1	10	$5,000 to $50,000

May 20 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 20	5:00 AM CDT	F1	Wilson	0.1	10	$50,000 to $500,000
May 20	3:45 PM CDT	F0	Cloud	0.1	10
May 20	5:23 PM CDT	F1	Neosho	2.0	200	$50,000 to $500,000
May 20	9:15 PM CDT	F0	Montgomery	0.1	10	$5,000 to $50,000

May 25 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 25	4:30 PM CDT	F0	Johnson	0.1	10

May 28 7 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 28	6:00 PM CDT	F1	Atchison	0.1	10	$5,000 to $50,000
May 28	6:05 PM CDT	F0	Doniphan	4.0	100
May 28	7:05 PM CDT	F0	Pratt	0.1	10
May 28	7:10 PM CDT	F0	Pratt	16.0	17
May 28	9:08 PM CDT	F0	Lyon	18.0	17
May 28	9:25 PM CDT	F0	Coffey	0.1	10	$5,000 to $50,000
May 28	9:30 PM CDT	F0	Osage	8.0	50	$5,000 to $50,000

May 30 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 30	4:04 PM CDT	F0	Woodson	0.1	10
May 30	5:18 PM CDT	F0	Neosho	0.1	10

June 8 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 8	8:15 PM CDT	F2	Jackson	10.0	200	$50,000 to $500,000
June 8	10:06 PM CDT	F0	Jefferson	0.1	10	under $50
June 8	10:25 PM CDT	F0	Jefferson	0.1	10	under $50

June 14 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 14	9:14 PM CDT	F0	Jewell	0.1	10			under $50

June 24 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 24	2:05 PM CDT	F0	Gove	0.1	10	under $50
June 24	3:46 PM CDT	F0	Decatur	0.1	10	under $50
June 24	4:00 PM CDT	F0	Rawlins	0.1	10	under $50
June 24	4:09 PM CDT	F0	Ford	1.3	17	under $50

July 8 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 8	4:55 PM CDT	F1	Barton	0.1	13		3	$5,000 to $50,000

July 9 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 9	5:55 PM MDT	F1	Greeley	0.1	10			$5,000 to $50,000
July 9	12:15 AM CDT	F1	Saline	30.0	33			$50,000 to $500,000

August 29 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 29	6:45 PM CDT	F1	Seward	0.1	10			$50,000 to $500,000

October 8 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 8	7:00 PM CDT	F1	Elk	3.0	17			$50,000 to $500,000

November 11 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
November 11	4:05 PM CST	F1	Anderson	5.0	100			$5,000 to $50,000

December 1 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
December 1	7:20 PM CST	F1	Crawford	0.5	100			$50,000 to $500,000

Nearby

Every tornado in Kansas since 1950 Warnings in force in Kansas The live radar over Kansas

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.